Chapter 10: Lightning (part one)
Science without a conscience is a work of evil.
Disliking the fact that he had an escort on either side of him, Dib trudged through the spotlessly clean hallway, boots clambering with every step he took. His mind was numb, buzzing as if he had been sucking on helium for the last five hours, and the air around him seemed as lifeless as the building's inhabitants. They were like drones in an ant farm, scurrying about to some meaningless end, simply following the orders of their superiors without consciousness or morality.
He gave a heavy sigh, arms limp and devitalized, as he neared the laboratory's exit, the doors like the very gates of heaven themselves..Dib wanted nothing more then to breath the air outside this hellish domain, to see the sky once more, even if it was littered with smog and drizzle. Over the roar of activity inside the prim and annoyingly clean dungeon, he could already hear rain drops assaulting the rooftops above him.
~I guess we aren't so far underground..~ the raven-haired boy thought dimly, not really concerned with the secret base's location, just with his own departure from it. With another elongated breath, Dib found himself toe to steal with a set of double doors, their metal hinges impressive and daunting. One of the gentlemen that had been ushering him outside pulled out a small, 2 inch long card, swiping it along the door's access panel. With a ballet of lights and sound, the digitized pad that was set on the wall next to the doors gave a satisfying "bring!", followed by a mechanical click as the door unlocked itself.
"You're free to go..Your father has told us that no mental-cleansing is needed..you probably couldn't understand let alone comprehend anything within this facility anyway," the man spoke drearily, shoving the card key back into his lab coat's white pocket. "I suggest you leave quickly and quietly."
"No need to ask me that again," the boy scoffed dryly, pushing his glasses back up the ridge of his nose, eyes slit in irritation at the man's callous nature. Who did he think he was talking to? Some immature, ignorant boy?
He laughed inwardly, wishing he could divulge all he knew about alien technology, his discoveries and his mission..things they would never themselves even hope to stumble upon. They were as blind and idiotic as the school children who mocked him day in and day out.
The doors split apart like the Red Sea; a long hallway spilled in front of him, windowless and stark. Dotting the end of the horizon was a single door.
"You'll find your way from here," the other man spoke in much the same manner as his counterpart, and they both soon left Dib alone, the long corridor beckoning him like Macbeth to that fated blade. The wind seemed to howl along the cement surfaces, and every step Dib took echoed into infinity.
There was a foreboding sensation filling this place..it was nearly tangible to him as a voice suddenly, yet quietly resounded behind him.
"You're the one, aren't you..the one who screwed up ~everything~."
Icicles could have formed along those walls as the voice rose in agitation; the words were cold, yet fragile, as if the speaker were physically weak, invigorated only by anger and malice. Dib froze on sight, joints locking up as a looming figure ambled towards him silently.
"Stupid, moronic boy," the person called out again, breaths separating her sentence as a hand gripped the boy's shoulder tightly, like a dog biting down on a person's hand. Finger nails like thumb tacks dug themselves into the fabric of Dib's trench coat. "I recognized your coat...the coat that started it all."
"Get your filthy hands of me, bitch." Dub shrugged away, as he restarted his walk towards the lab's exit, struggling to hide the mounting fear that was building from within. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck were prickling, a tingling feeling darting around the skin on his face.
He was frightened; there was no doubt about that.
"You can't run from it, boy."
~Watch me~
"Whoever she touches, whatever she does..she will always cause pain to those around her."
His feet stopped on their own, and likewise moved so that Dib slowly turned to face this interloper, who stood miserably behind him, face lowered and hidden behind a blanket of tangled brown hair. Although they were hidden, Dib could feel a pair of eyes boring down into his flesh, glaring at him like a car's headlights. He gave another shudder, putting his fears aside.
"She who was once mine...she who betrayed me. I gave her love, gave her warmth, but the pain she gave me was twice as strong," the person, who was most definitely female, spoke, words biting like anthrax. She lumbered forward, almost as if she were ensnared in a trance, and Dib almost thought about making a dash for the exit, race down the corridor...the woman didn't look like she could run very fast, at least not as quick as him. But the terror she emitted held in fast in place, like an emotional glue holding his body to the ground below him; she soon was a mere two feet from him.
"Nel doesn't belong to anyone...not even me," Dib retorted with a twinge of sadness, his eyes falling to the floor that had seemingly trapped him, "No one has given her the love she deserves, and I don't think anyone can. She is no more then a shell thanks to you people and your goddamn vicious tendencies!!!"
"Strong words from a boy who's just lost a special someone," the woman jeered, a skeletal hand whipping out, grabbing Dib from underneath his chin, moving his face around so that she could inspect every last corner of him. "You have regret written all over you, boy, and its all because of her, isn't it? I know how you feel; I've felt the same hurt and sting just as you have."
"How would you know?" Dib fought back the tears, tried to remain resolute as he let himself be taunted by this vile person. Her icy touch probed his senses, instilling fear, and her loathsome, empty gaze did worse. Before Dib could strengthen his emotional barriers even more, he began to falter, lower lip quavering as he tried to look away.
"Although the girl you know as Nel is not an independent being by any standards, the person whose DNA she stole ..." she replied, drawing her hand away. Much to Dib's surprise, his sudden release caused him to crumble onto the ground, legs disobeying him; the woman was obviously much stronger then her appearance let on. " ....belonged to my own child."
"What do you mean stole?" Dib spat out, quickly climbing to his feet, hands clenched at his sides defiantly.
"Nel is the name of ~my~ daughter...the girl who masquerades as her is but a copy," the woman smiled coldly, as if it were all too amusing; Dib couldn't see what was so humorous, his eyebrows tense and mouth thin like a knife's blade. "She could never compare to the original, it was all a useless farce. But I gave her love anyway..gave her clothes...even let her use the original's namesake."
Dib listened on, ears becoming hot with anger, face livid and white. He could feel hands becoming sweaty as they remain clenched like two fleshy vices. Standing before this enigmatic, cruel figure, he didn't know how much more of her malicious prattling he could withstand. Nel had renounced his love, but no one, not even a ~copy~ deserved such abuse as this..no one.
"I was foolish to believe that a mere puppet, a bastard child like her could ever return such devotion," stamping her foot angrily, the woman continued her harangue with heightened animosity. "And you, boy, were foolish to believe that she could actually handle whatever love you had to offer!"
His mouth twitched. Dib had had enough.
"How can you place that responsibility on someone's shoulders?" shouting now, all inhibitions cleared away, Dib rushed up to the woman, threatening to push her away. His adrenaline was moving faster then the cylinders inside of a race car, and it showed in his face, which was by this time red hot with disgust. "How can you expect someone to just take the place of someone else? Without choice? Without reason?! What did she do to deserve this?!!"
"Because she was ~my~ experiment....~my~ knowledge and scientific devotion personified....~MY~ life and ~MY~ chance to regain something lost!!!" the woman screamed into his face, hair haphazardly pushed aside to reveal the same face Nel had cowered from before. But those fiery eyes from before were smothered now, a candle of sanity lost as the ravaged and desolate woman tore herself away from Dib, collapsing onto the ground, tears straining from her face. "I had every right! I should have had every right!!!"
"No one has the right to someone's life..original or copy...." Dib said grimly, watching as the sick, demented mother began to smash her hands against the cold, unfeeling ground, bashing her skin until spots of blood began to tarnish the cement. Bits of flesh soon fell off, just as Dib spun around; the corridor in front of him appeared longer then he had remembered. He slunk away quietly, trying to cloud out the woman's inane and ear- piercing screams, the sickening noise as one of her hands finally snapped, the bone crunching against the floor. He flinched in repugnance as the other hand soon followed, the shrieks intensifying as the woman writhed on the floor in pain, whether from her broken bones or torn mind.
A tear soon fell down his own cheek, a tear of pity, of pain...
The single door seemed to open on its own as Dib left the building, rain splattering onto his pale, already chilled skin. How many days of rain would fall onto his city before they would finally empty themselves?
Looking behind him, Dib was shocked to find that the lab's "secret entrance" was nothing more then the back door to the local Crazy Taco, cleverly hidden with corporate warnings and "Do Not Enter" signs. Litter and half-eaten burritos cluttered the ground at his feet, probably props to help further disguise their facility. Dib kicked a half-crushed can out of his way as he walked along a dilapidated stone path towards the main sidewalk.
~Just like before..~ Dib thought to himself, pensive in a world of rain and dreariness. The drops were starting to come down even harder now, heavy blankets of water crashing down on the earth. It reminded him of the day in which he had given Nel his jacket...it reminded him of her first day of school. Everything reminded him of Nel, the girl he thought he could have called his own. It still needed to sink in that he would probably never see her face again. He grieved for her...she would probably never leave that pitiless lair again, never see sunlight again, never smile as a rainbow crested across the sky...never smile again.
He was being tied down by the heaviness of this reality now.
The rain was starting to chill him to the bone.
The part that really shocked was the fact that he could do nothing now. He was helpless and useless...he could never have helped her.
~How can I handle this...~ he mourned her loss, her absence, her everything....he mourned everything that she was and what he wasn't. ~Its too heavy...~
His feet had carried him to some distant place by now, lost in this mindless wander lust. Meandering about incoherently, Dib hadn't even realized that he was actually moving until his feet stopped at a no-name street.
Her hand had felt so cold back then...when he had touched it, when he had touched her face; Dib could keenly recall and remember the shivers that had gone through his entire body the moment he had grasped her hands here.
~~~ Cripes...what's wrong with you?~~~
How could he have been so careless back then? Had he really loved her all that much?
~~~Nothing...Nothing is wrong...~~~
He could lose himself in her innocence it was so overbearing..she was so kind, so gentle. Her shine could light a thousand planets. With eyes like that of a deer led to slaughter, unknowing of all the tragedy surrounding it, she had been..standing there in the middle of a storm....Dib bit his lip at the very thought.
~~~Why don't you get out of this rain or something....why are you here?~~~
Had it been only a few weeks ago that he had said that, when he had first given her his jacket...
He sneezed suddenly, scaring himself with the sudden retort, the burst shooting through his naval cavity like a torpedo. Hugging himself tightly, Dib turned away from that spot in which Nel had first asked for his name..he now knew why she had, and he inwardly cursed his father, damned him for creating a creature like Nel. Walking back towards his home, Dib felt empty now, empty like a pond that had dried up, all the animals that were once in it had died or fled. He felt hopeless...futile even. There was no more strength left for self-pity.
Hands numb....fingers numb. He couldn't cry anymore..Dib just felt like dying.
"So, you know the truth...don't you?"
"I don't care anymore, Zim...get the hell out of my way," Dib didn't bother to look up, could already tell who was once again obstructing his path. He passed right by the Irken's shadow and figure, ignoring the paroxysmal little dog that was bounding by his feet.
"Hey there Mister!!!!" it laughed out loud, a lollipop still jammed into its mouth, saliva falling onto the ground. "Do you wanna taste? It's Poop-Candy flavored! TAASTEEEEE!!!"
"GIR!! Get serious!" temper flaring from Dib's disinterest, an umbrella clutched tightly in his hand, the Irken kicked the robot in its hind- quarters, sending it flying off in some random direction. "I came out in this putrid, filthy Earthen weather to confront you, Dib- Human! You will notice me! NOTICE ME!!!"
Dib abruptly stopped, water dripping off of his chin, only to be replaced by fresh droplets. His eyes were already red from crying, both inside and out, so he didn't bother to open them.
"What do you want; if you're going to blast me with a sub-micronic laser, go ahead..." Dib didn't put up a fight as Zim charged towards him, boots splashing on the pavement, kicking up mud and rainwater. Using whatever latent Irken strength he had, the little, green alien picked Dib up by the collar of his shirt, the boy's feet dangling uselessly in the air. "I don't care anymore..."
"What is this? This lack of fight!" viper-tongue flailing about, Zim then threw Dib onto the damp ground, "I demand that you fight back! Listen to me demand!"
"I hear you well enough," Dib said with a grunt, wiping grime from his cheek, mud caked onto his brow. His shirt was completely saturated; water was even soaking into his socks by now, but it meant little to him. Everything was peanuts compared to the desperation inside.
He thought Nel would be his distraction, his retreat from a mundane life of aliens and world domination. But where was she now? All Nel could ever amount to was a puppet, deluded, reduced to nothing. All the love he mustered had meant nothing to her, Dib knew that now.
"Then listen some more, I say!" ever enthusiastic about whatever caper he set forth on, Zim kicked Dib so that he lay on his back, rain spitting onto his glasses. They were already smeared with street filth by now. "The Nel-human is with me...but if you want to know more about her, then you must pay attention..."
Tapping his fingers together diabolically, the Irken, iridescent contacts gleaming from the street lamps, grinned a rather fiendish smile, evil playing on his lips. Dib simply lay where he had fallen, body growing frigid and anesthetized with the torrential rain.
"I see that you have finally recognized my superiority against your less- then-superior self. That gives me much pleasure, Dib-human..." he sneered, not paying attention to GIR, who was now splashing in the nearby puddles screaming various TV jingles at the top of his mechanical lungs while beating his lollipop on trash can lids. "But there are other aliens in the galaxy who would also wish to claim this worm-baby infested glob of soil and pond-scum...and toilet seats...and lice..."
"Get to the point, Zim!" Dib burst out, causing the disguised alien in surprise.
"Of course, foul Earthen child..of course," with another wicked smile, Zim took his time to continue, obviously relishing in Dib's more then apparent impatience. "Case in point: the Tristanum race...my grand army of Irkens have forever been at war with this war-bearing nation , found only on the now self- eradicated planet Triste."
"What do you mean, 'self-eradicated'?" Dib interjected, interest suddenly perked, as if someone had manually stimulated his brain.
"They were a victim of their own tyranny, which rivals only that of the Irkens themselves," Zim replied, satisfied by the boy's curiosity. Everything was following his precise plans. "They are vile, malicious and cruel to all those that stand in their way, and will stop at nothing until they have fulfilled their desires, contaminating every planet within reach. Until now, I thought that this planet would not make it onto their menu, but I was erroneous.. "There is a single Tristanum on this planet, right now, just waiting to make its first move, plotting and gaining new information for its leaders. It won't be long before they arrive, and it's safe to assume that you're pitiful planet will be nothing compared to the great fleets of Triste..."
"Why are you telling me this? And how can I trust you so easily?" Dib questioned with a raised eyebrow, slowly rising off of the ground, also ignoring the reckless robot that was dancing the can-can around his feet.
"This planet is mine for the taking...it has been claimed for conquering by the Irken Empire, and will not be given up easily, not while I stand to defend it from competition," eyes thin with seriousness, Zim pulled a small pair of purple and red goggles from his back pack, its metal surfaces glinting. He handed it to human before him, trying his best not to actually touch the boy's hand, lest he contract any of his repulsive essence or dirt. "I knew it wouldn't be easy contracting the help of such a..talented and intelligent individual...take a look through these, and you'll witness the destruction wrought by the Tristanum and their weapons..."
Eying the goggles warily, Dib pondered his choices at this point: he could head-butt the raving alien, kick him in the crotch and then flee, laughing all the way home....or he could play along and perhaps get a chance to infiltrate the alien's defenses. The first would certainly be much more humorous of the two options, but the value of the later soon overruled. Before he could give it a second thought, however, GIR, who had all this time been sneaking up on Dib, ripped the goggles out of its master's gloved hands, slamming them onto Dib's oversized head, the straps nearly tearing upon impact.
Red was cast over Dib's sight as the lenses were plunged over his face, the circulation to his brain temporarily cut off by the constricting straps of the strange, Irken goggles. Plunged into a surreal virtual reality of sorts, Dib suddenly felt terribly queasy as he saw from behind the lenses a planet, the surface veneered in flame. The visuals became so intense; the flames were licking up towards him as a ship, battered by some battle, careened over head. From outside the goggles, Dib ducked the invisible ship, as Zim, holding his sides, howled with laughter.
"What is this?!" Dib shrieked as a missile was fired from the ship towards the planet, its surface erupting in flame again. He was taken aback by the violence spreading before his eyes, the explosions erupting left at right at the seemingly defenseless planet. "Stop it! STOP IT!!!"
The picture suddenly began to fade, like sand sifting through an hourglass, as the real world came back into view. But Dib's hearing was still impaired; a new sound, one other then the roar of missiles and turmoil, was beginning to filter through the goggle's ear pieces.
It was a song...he had heard it before....somewhere...
"That....those voices...." he whispered, as Zim's eyes widened, as if he were suddenly afraid. "Those...songs..."
"GIR!! Grab the Irken visors, NOW!" he ordered, causing the now obedient robot to lung itself towards the phased boy, its metal hands removing the head-piece. His already swollen head pounding like a drum, Dib clapped his hands to his temples, eyes shut in pain. "So...you have seen the force that is the Tristanum Fleet, the havoc they wrecked upon that planet?"
"That voice...it sounded like...like Nel! But..b-but it couldn't be.." Dib stuttered, heart still racing from the sheer terror he had witnessed from behind the goggles. His vision was blurred, inhibited, and every breath was a labor to pass. Involuntarily, Dib braced himself against the nearby Irken, too weak to stand on his own. The visions had seemed so real, as if he had been floating alongside that massive battle cruiser, been there to watch it blow a planet into oblivion. "How...how could this be?"
"That is the senseless and violent nature of the Tristanum race. Even the Irken Armada has admitted defeat to them..." Zim said gravely, as he then made a sound of disgust as Dib nearly collapsed onto him. "The one we have known as Nel..has come here to finish what I have started."
"You knew...you knew all along," voice hushed, Dib felt his strength returning, the effects of the visor dissipating, "You knew from the moment you saw her, that she was dangerous...I should have known...I should have seen it coming..."
"It just goes to prove how insignificant you humans are," the Irken agent mocked, placing the goggles back into his pack, as he brought his wrist communicator up to his mouth. "But even so, I will need your help if I am to defeat this mighty foe...she only trusts you...."
"So, what you're saying is that we should join forces, eh?" Dib smiled sardonically, as the irony of the situation finally revealed itself. "I never thought I would ever come upon such a predicament..."
"Believe me, I can already feel my squidly-skooch inverting itself in disgust at the mere notion of working alongside such an infidel as you..." Zim sneered once more, "but as you humans put it, drastic times call for drastic measures....are you with me?"
"To save the world from someone other then you?" Dib raised an eyebrow quizzically, "Just so I can save it again from you...count me in."
"Good, then let us go to my base," pressing a sequence of bottoms on his wrist panel, and then speaking some form of alien speech, Zim's image began to fade away, as rings of holographic energy materialized around both alien, human, and robot.
Dib felt his mind become hazy again, a humming drone resounding in his ear drums as his body disappeared slowly and gradually.
"Beam me up..."
Science without a conscience is a work of evil.
Disliking the fact that he had an escort on either side of him, Dib trudged through the spotlessly clean hallway, boots clambering with every step he took. His mind was numb, buzzing as if he had been sucking on helium for the last five hours, and the air around him seemed as lifeless as the building's inhabitants. They were like drones in an ant farm, scurrying about to some meaningless end, simply following the orders of their superiors without consciousness or morality.
He gave a heavy sigh, arms limp and devitalized, as he neared the laboratory's exit, the doors like the very gates of heaven themselves..Dib wanted nothing more then to breath the air outside this hellish domain, to see the sky once more, even if it was littered with smog and drizzle. Over the roar of activity inside the prim and annoyingly clean dungeon, he could already hear rain drops assaulting the rooftops above him.
~I guess we aren't so far underground..~ the raven-haired boy thought dimly, not really concerned with the secret base's location, just with his own departure from it. With another elongated breath, Dib found himself toe to steal with a set of double doors, their metal hinges impressive and daunting. One of the gentlemen that had been ushering him outside pulled out a small, 2 inch long card, swiping it along the door's access panel. With a ballet of lights and sound, the digitized pad that was set on the wall next to the doors gave a satisfying "bring!", followed by a mechanical click as the door unlocked itself.
"You're free to go..Your father has told us that no mental-cleansing is needed..you probably couldn't understand let alone comprehend anything within this facility anyway," the man spoke drearily, shoving the card key back into his lab coat's white pocket. "I suggest you leave quickly and quietly."
"No need to ask me that again," the boy scoffed dryly, pushing his glasses back up the ridge of his nose, eyes slit in irritation at the man's callous nature. Who did he think he was talking to? Some immature, ignorant boy?
He laughed inwardly, wishing he could divulge all he knew about alien technology, his discoveries and his mission..things they would never themselves even hope to stumble upon. They were as blind and idiotic as the school children who mocked him day in and day out.
The doors split apart like the Red Sea; a long hallway spilled in front of him, windowless and stark. Dotting the end of the horizon was a single door.
"You'll find your way from here," the other man spoke in much the same manner as his counterpart, and they both soon left Dib alone, the long corridor beckoning him like Macbeth to that fated blade. The wind seemed to howl along the cement surfaces, and every step Dib took echoed into infinity.
There was a foreboding sensation filling this place..it was nearly tangible to him as a voice suddenly, yet quietly resounded behind him.
"You're the one, aren't you..the one who screwed up ~everything~."
Icicles could have formed along those walls as the voice rose in agitation; the words were cold, yet fragile, as if the speaker were physically weak, invigorated only by anger and malice. Dib froze on sight, joints locking up as a looming figure ambled towards him silently.
"Stupid, moronic boy," the person called out again, breaths separating her sentence as a hand gripped the boy's shoulder tightly, like a dog biting down on a person's hand. Finger nails like thumb tacks dug themselves into the fabric of Dib's trench coat. "I recognized your coat...the coat that started it all."
"Get your filthy hands of me, bitch." Dub shrugged away, as he restarted his walk towards the lab's exit, struggling to hide the mounting fear that was building from within. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck were prickling, a tingling feeling darting around the skin on his face.
He was frightened; there was no doubt about that.
"You can't run from it, boy."
~Watch me~
"Whoever she touches, whatever she does..she will always cause pain to those around her."
His feet stopped on their own, and likewise moved so that Dib slowly turned to face this interloper, who stood miserably behind him, face lowered and hidden behind a blanket of tangled brown hair. Although they were hidden, Dib could feel a pair of eyes boring down into his flesh, glaring at him like a car's headlights. He gave another shudder, putting his fears aside.
"She who was once mine...she who betrayed me. I gave her love, gave her warmth, but the pain she gave me was twice as strong," the person, who was most definitely female, spoke, words biting like anthrax. She lumbered forward, almost as if she were ensnared in a trance, and Dib almost thought about making a dash for the exit, race down the corridor...the woman didn't look like she could run very fast, at least not as quick as him. But the terror she emitted held in fast in place, like an emotional glue holding his body to the ground below him; she soon was a mere two feet from him.
"Nel doesn't belong to anyone...not even me," Dib retorted with a twinge of sadness, his eyes falling to the floor that had seemingly trapped him, "No one has given her the love she deserves, and I don't think anyone can. She is no more then a shell thanks to you people and your goddamn vicious tendencies!!!"
"Strong words from a boy who's just lost a special someone," the woman jeered, a skeletal hand whipping out, grabbing Dib from underneath his chin, moving his face around so that she could inspect every last corner of him. "You have regret written all over you, boy, and its all because of her, isn't it? I know how you feel; I've felt the same hurt and sting just as you have."
"How would you know?" Dib fought back the tears, tried to remain resolute as he let himself be taunted by this vile person. Her icy touch probed his senses, instilling fear, and her loathsome, empty gaze did worse. Before Dib could strengthen his emotional barriers even more, he began to falter, lower lip quavering as he tried to look away.
"Although the girl you know as Nel is not an independent being by any standards, the person whose DNA she stole ..." she replied, drawing her hand away. Much to Dib's surprise, his sudden release caused him to crumble onto the ground, legs disobeying him; the woman was obviously much stronger then her appearance let on. " ....belonged to my own child."
"What do you mean stole?" Dib spat out, quickly climbing to his feet, hands clenched at his sides defiantly.
"Nel is the name of ~my~ daughter...the girl who masquerades as her is but a copy," the woman smiled coldly, as if it were all too amusing; Dib couldn't see what was so humorous, his eyebrows tense and mouth thin like a knife's blade. "She could never compare to the original, it was all a useless farce. But I gave her love anyway..gave her clothes...even let her use the original's namesake."
Dib listened on, ears becoming hot with anger, face livid and white. He could feel hands becoming sweaty as they remain clenched like two fleshy vices. Standing before this enigmatic, cruel figure, he didn't know how much more of her malicious prattling he could withstand. Nel had renounced his love, but no one, not even a ~copy~ deserved such abuse as this..no one.
"I was foolish to believe that a mere puppet, a bastard child like her could ever return such devotion," stamping her foot angrily, the woman continued her harangue with heightened animosity. "And you, boy, were foolish to believe that she could actually handle whatever love you had to offer!"
His mouth twitched. Dib had had enough.
"How can you place that responsibility on someone's shoulders?" shouting now, all inhibitions cleared away, Dib rushed up to the woman, threatening to push her away. His adrenaline was moving faster then the cylinders inside of a race car, and it showed in his face, which was by this time red hot with disgust. "How can you expect someone to just take the place of someone else? Without choice? Without reason?! What did she do to deserve this?!!"
"Because she was ~my~ experiment....~my~ knowledge and scientific devotion personified....~MY~ life and ~MY~ chance to regain something lost!!!" the woman screamed into his face, hair haphazardly pushed aside to reveal the same face Nel had cowered from before. But those fiery eyes from before were smothered now, a candle of sanity lost as the ravaged and desolate woman tore herself away from Dib, collapsing onto the ground, tears straining from her face. "I had every right! I should have had every right!!!"
"No one has the right to someone's life..original or copy...." Dib said grimly, watching as the sick, demented mother began to smash her hands against the cold, unfeeling ground, bashing her skin until spots of blood began to tarnish the cement. Bits of flesh soon fell off, just as Dib spun around; the corridor in front of him appeared longer then he had remembered. He slunk away quietly, trying to cloud out the woman's inane and ear- piercing screams, the sickening noise as one of her hands finally snapped, the bone crunching against the floor. He flinched in repugnance as the other hand soon followed, the shrieks intensifying as the woman writhed on the floor in pain, whether from her broken bones or torn mind.
A tear soon fell down his own cheek, a tear of pity, of pain...
The single door seemed to open on its own as Dib left the building, rain splattering onto his pale, already chilled skin. How many days of rain would fall onto his city before they would finally empty themselves?
Looking behind him, Dib was shocked to find that the lab's "secret entrance" was nothing more then the back door to the local Crazy Taco, cleverly hidden with corporate warnings and "Do Not Enter" signs. Litter and half-eaten burritos cluttered the ground at his feet, probably props to help further disguise their facility. Dib kicked a half-crushed can out of his way as he walked along a dilapidated stone path towards the main sidewalk.
~Just like before..~ Dib thought to himself, pensive in a world of rain and dreariness. The drops were starting to come down even harder now, heavy blankets of water crashing down on the earth. It reminded him of the day in which he had given Nel his jacket...it reminded him of her first day of school. Everything reminded him of Nel, the girl he thought he could have called his own. It still needed to sink in that he would probably never see her face again. He grieved for her...she would probably never leave that pitiless lair again, never see sunlight again, never smile as a rainbow crested across the sky...never smile again.
He was being tied down by the heaviness of this reality now.
The rain was starting to chill him to the bone.
The part that really shocked was the fact that he could do nothing now. He was helpless and useless...he could never have helped her.
~How can I handle this...~ he mourned her loss, her absence, her everything....he mourned everything that she was and what he wasn't. ~Its too heavy...~
His feet had carried him to some distant place by now, lost in this mindless wander lust. Meandering about incoherently, Dib hadn't even realized that he was actually moving until his feet stopped at a no-name street.
Her hand had felt so cold back then...when he had touched it, when he had touched her face; Dib could keenly recall and remember the shivers that had gone through his entire body the moment he had grasped her hands here.
~~~ Cripes...what's wrong with you?~~~
How could he have been so careless back then? Had he really loved her all that much?
~~~Nothing...Nothing is wrong...~~~
He could lose himself in her innocence it was so overbearing..she was so kind, so gentle. Her shine could light a thousand planets. With eyes like that of a deer led to slaughter, unknowing of all the tragedy surrounding it, she had been..standing there in the middle of a storm....Dib bit his lip at the very thought.
~~~Why don't you get out of this rain or something....why are you here?~~~
Had it been only a few weeks ago that he had said that, when he had first given her his jacket...
He sneezed suddenly, scaring himself with the sudden retort, the burst shooting through his naval cavity like a torpedo. Hugging himself tightly, Dib turned away from that spot in which Nel had first asked for his name..he now knew why she had, and he inwardly cursed his father, damned him for creating a creature like Nel. Walking back towards his home, Dib felt empty now, empty like a pond that had dried up, all the animals that were once in it had died or fled. He felt hopeless...futile even. There was no more strength left for self-pity.
Hands numb....fingers numb. He couldn't cry anymore..Dib just felt like dying.
"So, you know the truth...don't you?"
"I don't care anymore, Zim...get the hell out of my way," Dib didn't bother to look up, could already tell who was once again obstructing his path. He passed right by the Irken's shadow and figure, ignoring the paroxysmal little dog that was bounding by his feet.
"Hey there Mister!!!!" it laughed out loud, a lollipop still jammed into its mouth, saliva falling onto the ground. "Do you wanna taste? It's Poop-Candy flavored! TAASTEEEEE!!!"
"GIR!! Get serious!" temper flaring from Dib's disinterest, an umbrella clutched tightly in his hand, the Irken kicked the robot in its hind- quarters, sending it flying off in some random direction. "I came out in this putrid, filthy Earthen weather to confront you, Dib- Human! You will notice me! NOTICE ME!!!"
Dib abruptly stopped, water dripping off of his chin, only to be replaced by fresh droplets. His eyes were already red from crying, both inside and out, so he didn't bother to open them.
"What do you want; if you're going to blast me with a sub-micronic laser, go ahead..." Dib didn't put up a fight as Zim charged towards him, boots splashing on the pavement, kicking up mud and rainwater. Using whatever latent Irken strength he had, the little, green alien picked Dib up by the collar of his shirt, the boy's feet dangling uselessly in the air. "I don't care anymore..."
"What is this? This lack of fight!" viper-tongue flailing about, Zim then threw Dib onto the damp ground, "I demand that you fight back! Listen to me demand!"
"I hear you well enough," Dib said with a grunt, wiping grime from his cheek, mud caked onto his brow. His shirt was completely saturated; water was even soaking into his socks by now, but it meant little to him. Everything was peanuts compared to the desperation inside.
He thought Nel would be his distraction, his retreat from a mundane life of aliens and world domination. But where was she now? All Nel could ever amount to was a puppet, deluded, reduced to nothing. All the love he mustered had meant nothing to her, Dib knew that now.
"Then listen some more, I say!" ever enthusiastic about whatever caper he set forth on, Zim kicked Dib so that he lay on his back, rain spitting onto his glasses. They were already smeared with street filth by now. "The Nel-human is with me...but if you want to know more about her, then you must pay attention..."
Tapping his fingers together diabolically, the Irken, iridescent contacts gleaming from the street lamps, grinned a rather fiendish smile, evil playing on his lips. Dib simply lay where he had fallen, body growing frigid and anesthetized with the torrential rain.
"I see that you have finally recognized my superiority against your less- then-superior self. That gives me much pleasure, Dib-human..." he sneered, not paying attention to GIR, who was now splashing in the nearby puddles screaming various TV jingles at the top of his mechanical lungs while beating his lollipop on trash can lids. "But there are other aliens in the galaxy who would also wish to claim this worm-baby infested glob of soil and pond-scum...and toilet seats...and lice..."
"Get to the point, Zim!" Dib burst out, causing the disguised alien in surprise.
"Of course, foul Earthen child..of course," with another wicked smile, Zim took his time to continue, obviously relishing in Dib's more then apparent impatience. "Case in point: the Tristanum race...my grand army of Irkens have forever been at war with this war-bearing nation , found only on the now self- eradicated planet Triste."
"What do you mean, 'self-eradicated'?" Dib interjected, interest suddenly perked, as if someone had manually stimulated his brain.
"They were a victim of their own tyranny, which rivals only that of the Irkens themselves," Zim replied, satisfied by the boy's curiosity. Everything was following his precise plans. "They are vile, malicious and cruel to all those that stand in their way, and will stop at nothing until they have fulfilled their desires, contaminating every planet within reach. Until now, I thought that this planet would not make it onto their menu, but I was erroneous.. "There is a single Tristanum on this planet, right now, just waiting to make its first move, plotting and gaining new information for its leaders. It won't be long before they arrive, and it's safe to assume that you're pitiful planet will be nothing compared to the great fleets of Triste..."
"Why are you telling me this? And how can I trust you so easily?" Dib questioned with a raised eyebrow, slowly rising off of the ground, also ignoring the reckless robot that was dancing the can-can around his feet.
"This planet is mine for the taking...it has been claimed for conquering by the Irken Empire, and will not be given up easily, not while I stand to defend it from competition," eyes thin with seriousness, Zim pulled a small pair of purple and red goggles from his back pack, its metal surfaces glinting. He handed it to human before him, trying his best not to actually touch the boy's hand, lest he contract any of his repulsive essence or dirt. "I knew it wouldn't be easy contracting the help of such a..talented and intelligent individual...take a look through these, and you'll witness the destruction wrought by the Tristanum and their weapons..."
Eying the goggles warily, Dib pondered his choices at this point: he could head-butt the raving alien, kick him in the crotch and then flee, laughing all the way home....or he could play along and perhaps get a chance to infiltrate the alien's defenses. The first would certainly be much more humorous of the two options, but the value of the later soon overruled. Before he could give it a second thought, however, GIR, who had all this time been sneaking up on Dib, ripped the goggles out of its master's gloved hands, slamming them onto Dib's oversized head, the straps nearly tearing upon impact.
Red was cast over Dib's sight as the lenses were plunged over his face, the circulation to his brain temporarily cut off by the constricting straps of the strange, Irken goggles. Plunged into a surreal virtual reality of sorts, Dib suddenly felt terribly queasy as he saw from behind the lenses a planet, the surface veneered in flame. The visuals became so intense; the flames were licking up towards him as a ship, battered by some battle, careened over head. From outside the goggles, Dib ducked the invisible ship, as Zim, holding his sides, howled with laughter.
"What is this?!" Dib shrieked as a missile was fired from the ship towards the planet, its surface erupting in flame again. He was taken aback by the violence spreading before his eyes, the explosions erupting left at right at the seemingly defenseless planet. "Stop it! STOP IT!!!"
The picture suddenly began to fade, like sand sifting through an hourglass, as the real world came back into view. But Dib's hearing was still impaired; a new sound, one other then the roar of missiles and turmoil, was beginning to filter through the goggle's ear pieces.
It was a song...he had heard it before....somewhere...
"That....those voices...." he whispered, as Zim's eyes widened, as if he were suddenly afraid. "Those...songs..."
"GIR!! Grab the Irken visors, NOW!" he ordered, causing the now obedient robot to lung itself towards the phased boy, its metal hands removing the head-piece. His already swollen head pounding like a drum, Dib clapped his hands to his temples, eyes shut in pain. "So...you have seen the force that is the Tristanum Fleet, the havoc they wrecked upon that planet?"
"That voice...it sounded like...like Nel! But..b-but it couldn't be.." Dib stuttered, heart still racing from the sheer terror he had witnessed from behind the goggles. His vision was blurred, inhibited, and every breath was a labor to pass. Involuntarily, Dib braced himself against the nearby Irken, too weak to stand on his own. The visions had seemed so real, as if he had been floating alongside that massive battle cruiser, been there to watch it blow a planet into oblivion. "How...how could this be?"
"That is the senseless and violent nature of the Tristanum race. Even the Irken Armada has admitted defeat to them..." Zim said gravely, as he then made a sound of disgust as Dib nearly collapsed onto him. "The one we have known as Nel..has come here to finish what I have started."
"You knew...you knew all along," voice hushed, Dib felt his strength returning, the effects of the visor dissipating, "You knew from the moment you saw her, that she was dangerous...I should have known...I should have seen it coming..."
"It just goes to prove how insignificant you humans are," the Irken agent mocked, placing the goggles back into his pack, as he brought his wrist communicator up to his mouth. "But even so, I will need your help if I am to defeat this mighty foe...she only trusts you...."
"So, what you're saying is that we should join forces, eh?" Dib smiled sardonically, as the irony of the situation finally revealed itself. "I never thought I would ever come upon such a predicament..."
"Believe me, I can already feel my squidly-skooch inverting itself in disgust at the mere notion of working alongside such an infidel as you..." Zim sneered once more, "but as you humans put it, drastic times call for drastic measures....are you with me?"
"To save the world from someone other then you?" Dib raised an eyebrow quizzically, "Just so I can save it again from you...count me in."
"Good, then let us go to my base," pressing a sequence of bottoms on his wrist panel, and then speaking some form of alien speech, Zim's image began to fade away, as rings of holographic energy materialized around both alien, human, and robot.
Dib felt his mind become hazy again, a humming drone resounding in his ear drums as his body disappeared slowly and gradually.
"Beam me up..."